Thursday, January 31, 2013

I've spent the afternoon poring over my annual accounting to Caesar. Milady and I are solidly middle class, I'm a cop, she's a registered nurse. We both draw a small retirement check from our time working for the state and we both work full-time so we don't have to live as paupers.

Don't get me wrong, I'm thankful for what I have and what I can earn. Still, it seems that we send a whole lot of money to the Government for very little return. This year I'll pay more in taxes than what I earned some years when I was pore and starvin' and raising kids.

Oh, and for the record, I got notice today from the state that my federal withholding has increased on my tiny little retirement check. If Obama's trying to help retirees he's going about it all wrong.

Every year about this time I am re-invigorated in my conclusion that if Federal Withholding was abolished, and folks had to write quarterly checks to the .gov for taxes, there would be a general taxpayer revolt in this country, and we'd see tar, feathers, and rails on the streets of Washington. Our Congress and President would not have to worry about saving a trillion dollars over the next 10 years, they'd have to worry about saving several trillion dollars THIS YEAR.

I am sickened at the amount of money I send to Washington, and it's a damned shame that I can't keep more of it to put into my checking account.

Wednesday, January 30, 2013

Suppose one wanted a shotgun for mostly home defense purposes - what's your recommendation for one that might also suit a spouse or teenage son should that need occur?

That's simple. Which shotgun is in your closet right now? That's the one you want.

However, if you're looking for another shotgun, that's easy too. Remington, Mossberg, Winchester, all make good pump shotguns. I've got a Remington 870 standard that I've carried for years. Mine has the 20" rifle sighted barrel. However, if I were looking for a dual-purpose shotgun today, I'd probably look at the Remington 11-87 Youth Compact in 20 gauge. That 21 inch barrel makes it very versatile.

Or, I'd go with one of the Mossberg Bantam series. Either of those would work fine for a multi-purpose home defense/sporting shotgun for a teen son or a spouse.

With the current hysteria in the media and the Congress, folks have been asking PawPaw questions. They normally go like this: "I'm concerned that they're going to ban pistols and I want to get one before they ban them. What should I get?"

Well, Americans are like that. Just as soon as someone tells us that we can't do something, we go ahead and do it anyway. That's our nature and our right. But in this case, I don't see a gun ban happening. However, if you'd like to buy a gun that's your God-given right and I'll happily welcome you to the long ranks of free Americans. So, lets look at your options.

Again, I don't see a gun ban happening, and the panic right now is market driven. I believe that if you wait a couple of months, prices will come down to rational levels. I'm already starting to see the panic subside in certain limited areas of the market, and in the media. (Piers Morgan notwithstanding.)

Semi-auto Pistols. This category is easy. Glock. Or Smith and Wesson M&P. Glock pistols are easy to shoot, accurate, reliable, durable, and fairly priced. The same can be said for Smith and Wesson's M&P line. But, Glock is probably more ubiquitous. Get a 9mm. The 9mm cartridge is perfectly adequate and ammo is normally found everywhere. I tell you this and I'm one of those guys who doesn't own a 9mm, nor do I own a Glock. The simple truth of the matter is that the Glock pistols are very common because they are very good. They are safe and they go bang every time you pull the trigger. There is not a lot to learn about a Glock handgun, they all work alike, and they retain their resale value. If you prefer a Smith and Wesson, get one of those. They're not yet as common as a Glock, but they're easy to find, and they're very good pistols.

Semi-auto Rifles. This category is a bit more problematic, because there are very good manufacturers of AR-15 type rifles and more folks are making them every year. Bushmaster, DPMS, Colt, Ruger, Remington, Mossberg, Smith and Wesson, they all make ARs, along with a plethora of custom and semi-custom makers. I happen to own a Bushmaster, but that's simply because that what was on the rack the day I bought mine. The simple fact is that the AR series rifles are standard rifles today. Parts are easy to find, and the rifle is fairly easy to build. The internet is awash in videos about the care, feeding, and maintenance of AR type rifles. Every GI since 1963 has been trained on that rifle, and it currently serves as the standard rifle of the US Armed Forces. This is also the rifle that all the gun-banners hate, so it's the one that comes up on all the ban lists. Prices rose dramatically since December on these rifles, driven purely through market forces worried about a ban. PawPaw is seeing some indication that the market is beginning to stabilize on AR rifles, with some folks telling me that prices are starting to drop from the panic bubble.

Again, I'm not terribly concerned that a gun ban will happen anytime soon. When subjected to rational debate, it becomes a non-starter. Those "common-sense" measures that you hear the liberal media talk about are not common sense at all. We should stay vigilant, we should write our Congress-critters, and we should hold their feet to the fire because we're Americans and we have that responsibility. It is our right, our duty, and our privilege to supervise Congress.

As long as I'm home during the day, the least I can do is cook for Milady. Today, she requested Red Beans and Rice. So, I went to Guillory's and got some of their jalapeno sausage. It's good stuff, and a proper country sausage is always preferred over factory-made sausage.

The recipe is here. If you go to the recipe, and notice that the picture looks the same, it's the same pot, the same stove, the same recipe. They're going to look remarkably similar.

When Milady texts me, I'll put on a pot of rice. Red Beans and rice. It's what's for supper.

That's what Ed Morrissey is reporting at Hot Air. For all sorts of good reasons, it doesn't look like Feinstein's bill will clear the Senate, much less the House. That's good news for all of us.

That photo above is Senator Feinstein on the Senate floor. I think it's extremely interesting that she's trying to lecture us on gun safety while committing a Rule 2 and a Rule 3 violation. Senator Feinstein should go back to class and learn how to properly handle firearms.

If he is a skeet shooter, why have we not heard of this? Why have we not seen photos? Why hasn't he referenced this at any point in time?" Blackburn said Monday on CNN's "Erin Burnett OutFront.""I tell you what I do think," she later added. "I think he should invite me to Camp David, and I'll go skeet shooting with him and I bet I'll beat him."

I bet she would. What most intrigues me about this admission is why the President hasn't referenced his hobby during the recent, ongoing debate about guns? As a guy whose first job was as a target boy on a skeet range, I have a few questions for the President. What gun does he prefer? What brand of shell? Does he shoot high-gun or low-gun? What's his handicap? Does he tow the targets, or swing-through?

Other reporters are starting to ask questions, and Jay Carney is, as usual, clueless.

"He does go to Camp David with some regularity, but I'm not sure how often he's done that," Carney said during the daily press briefing.
Pressed further if there was a photograph of the president taking part in the sport, Carney said "There may be, but I haven't seen it."

Well, Mr. Carney. There is an old saying in the internet. Without pictures, it never happened. We'll be pleased to see the White House posting pictures of the President crushing a clay target.

"That doesn't sound too smart," Felber said. "People have the right to defend themselves, but they don't have the right to take the law into their own hands.

The only problem with your assessment, Mr. Mayor, is that The People aren't taking the law into their hands. A libertarian could argue that the law is in the hands of The People. That is the proper place for it, and through their elected representatives, they've protected themselves with Castle Doctrine.

Sheriff Clarke responds:

"Personally I've never seen the Dirty Harry movie -- but if that's all the mayor can come up with, that's pretty weak," he said. "I think that what's going on in the city of Milwaukee on his watch is kind of, you know -- it looks like he doesn't have much to say, he doesn't have much to offer and that's okay.

"My job is to protect the public," he said.

I think that Sheriff Clarke has the better handle on the problem, and Mayor Felber is only promoting failed policies.

PJMedia is covering a story about the new registration scheme embedded in the ill-conceived and illegitimately passed weapons ban in New York. Some folks are concerned that many law-abiding adults will simply choose to not comply with the law.

“I’ve heard from hundreds of people that they’re prepared to defy the law, and that number will be magnified by the thousands, by the tens of thousands, when the registration deadline comes,” said Brian Olesen, president of the American Shooters Supply, one of the largest gun dealers in the state.

Officials estimate at least 1 million semiautomatic rifles are owned in the state, sources said.

Officials admit that they have no idea where those guns might be. Neither do they have a firm handle on how many firearms might be included in this scheme. As the Founders intended, semi-auto firearms have been traded in lawful commerce for over a century without government interference and the folks tasked with enforcing this law are counting on the voluntary compliance of The People. When the government oversteps its authority, they're faced with The People deciding to simply not comply. That is an American tradition that is older than our Constitution.

We The People, run this nation. Our legislators are simply servants. I send mine harshly-worded memos fairly regularly.

Sunday, January 27, 2013

Eldest and youngest sons came to the house today for Sunday lunch after church, a family tradition. As is also our tradition, the talk turned to guns and we inspected the chromed 1911 I picked up last week. Younger son noticed almost immediately that the gun, with a 1915 serial number, has an arched mainspring housing, and that isn't original nor correct for that period. This observation verifies my belief that this particular handgun is a surplus shooter that has been worked on by several folks over the years. The little gun is a shooter, not a collector piece.

He then announced his intentions to build a set of scales for the pistol and produced a nice piece of red oak he's been saving for such a project. We went out to the bench where he roughed-out the scales.

He took the Hogue grips off the pistol to do a rough fitting and we found that someone in the past had engraved the front strap of the pistol. It looks like the beginning of a checkering job, but the points are very flat. This front strap design might have been a trademark of a gunsmith in the past, much like the Tiger Tooth design was a trademark of Jim Clark. But, back to my pistol. Below is a photo of what we found under the Hogue Grip.

I've never seen a front strap pattern like that and I'd love to know who produced it. Simply knowing would help me understand the history of this pistol.

With winter, we tend to get a little bit shaggy, and PawPaw needs a haircut. I actually needed one two weeks ago, but this foot injury has kept me fairly close to the recliner. Perhaps this week I'll get out and visit a barber.

I'm noticing that the dog could use a trim also.

It seems rude to give the dog a spring-time cut when we still have to live through February, but he's getting to the point where I can't tell which end to scratch. It may be time for a groomer's appointment. He sure is a shaggy dog.

Saturday, January 26, 2013

A Public Service Announcement from Sheriff David Clark from Milwaukee, WI.

In the PSA, Sheriff David Clarke says, “With officers laid off and furloughed, simply calling 911 and waiting is no longer your best option. You could beg for mercy from a violent criminal, hide under the bed, or you can fight back. But are you prepared?”
“You have a duty to protect yourself and your family. We’re partners now. Can I count on you?”

I see that Senator Feinstein's bill has a number of exemptions, the kind you'd most expect to see in a bill of this sort. According to The Weekly Standard:

"Mrs. Feinstein's measure would exempt more than 2,200 types of hunting and sporting rifles; guns manually operated by bolt, pump, lever or slide action; and weapons used by government officials, law enforcement and retired law enforcement personnel," the Washington Times reports.

Hogwash and Balderdash. I've been a cop for a long time, and I subscribe to the principles first set forth by Sir Robert Peel, the founder of the Metropolitan Police Department, and considered by many to the founder of the modern police force. Peel said, in part:

the police are the public and the public are the police; the police being only members of the public who are paid to give full-time attention to duties which are incumbent upon every citizen in the interests of community welfare and existence.

The police are only members of the public. In my humble opinion, the police should be accountable to, and follow the laws that the public has to follow. We should have no exemptions for the police in the public law. We should also have no exemptions for "government officials" in the public law. If the police are servants of the public then the government officials are also servants. That is our tradition and our guiding principle. We have no nobility in this country, except the common nobility of the citizen. All laws should apply equally, and exemptions in the law are abhorrent to the citizens of a Republic.

Or, as Instapundit says: THE GENTRY ALWAYS ENJOYED THE RIGHT TO BEAR ARMS IN WAYS THE COMMON PEOPLE DID NOT. Feinstein wants to be Gentry. She should instead aspire to become a peasant.

Friday, January 25, 2013

Reason.com talks about a family in Sacramento, CA that can't rebuild their home after a fire. Simply, the house is in a floodplain and FEMA regulations after Hurricanes Katrina and Sandy, the FedGov has been looking at floodplains.

PawPaw has been covering floodplains since 2005 and the simple truth is that lots of land in Louisiana is considered floodplain. I've lived in floodplains, and I've been flooded out. I understand why the FedGov doesn't want to insure folks who build in places where water might get in the house. It's hugely expensive.

Still, folks like to live near water, we love the ocean, and we tend to forget that every so often a storm comes along and our lives go sideways.
I'll bet that a lot of the folks who got flooded in New Jersey, New York and assorted locales during Sandy are learning that they're in a floodplain. One good sign is if the water comes in under the door. If that happens, you live in a floodplain and your life just got hugely complicated.

I see that our favorite gun-banner, Senator Dianne Feinstein has published a list of firearms she wants to ban. This legislation is coming out in bits and pieces and it will be interesting to see the text of the proposed law, but here is the list as we understand it.

You'll notice that there are several target rifles there, to include the Colt Match Target rifles. Those are very familiar to competitors in the National Matches.
She also wants to ban magazines holding more than 10 rounds of ammunition.

Thursday, January 24, 2013

According to Hot Air, Dianne Feinstein has introduced her promised gun control bill. It'll take a while to sort through the nonsense, but we see what she's trying to accomplish, the gun-banner's fantasy dream. One particularly onerous provision of the bill will be to require that "assault weapons" be registered under the National Firearms Act.

Requires that grandfathered weapons be registered under the National Firearms Act, to include:
-Background check of owner and any transferee;
-Type and serial number of the firearm;
-Positive identification, including photograph and fingerprint;
-Certification from local law enforcement of identity and that possession would not violate State or local law; and
-Dedicated funding for ATF to implement registration.

The National Firearms Act, for those of you not familiar, was passed in 1934 to regulate machine guns used by gangsters. Things like Thompson sub machine guns, sawed off shotguns, and belt-fed weapons all fall under NFA34. It that's what Feinstein wants, she'll have a tough road to get it. I doubt that this bill will ever make it out of committee, much less be passed to the House. Feinstein's wet-dreaming here, but she should be commended for breaking out all the cards. Extremism like this should be easy to beat.

The one damned shame of this debaclle is that her own constituents won't introduce her to tar, feathers, and a free trip out of town.

Wednesday, January 23, 2013

Watching the Secretary testify in front of the Senate Committee, I noticed that Senator Paul was ripping her a new asshole. Clinton wants to talk about lessons learned and moving forward. Paul is trying to figure out what went wrong. He told her flat-out that if he were President, he'd have fired her the next morning.

When I bought the chromed 1911 the first thing I noticed was that it sported a trigger shoe.

Back in the day, it was fairly common to install a trigger shoe on target pistols. Some folks thought that the wider, grooved shoe gave them better trigger control. Other folks thought that the trigger shoe was dangerous and unnecessary. I never saw the controversy, but I'd never owned nor used a trigger shoe on any of my handguns.

When I got the gun home, after stripping it and doing a function check, I tried to put it in a Serpa holster designed for the 1911. My Kimber has ridden in that holster for several years. I was considerably confused when the chromed job didn't fit in the holster, but the Kimber fit nicely. Then I started looking at the pistol and the holster, and noticed that the Serpa locks on the trigger guard. I also noticed that the trigger shoe seemed to be preventing the pistol from entering the holster.

So, this morning I went to the bench, found a suitable wrench, and removed the trigger shoe. Interesting. The trigger shoe measures 0.516 inches in width, considerably wider than the 0.357 inches that the trigger guard measures.

So, my math and my calibrated eyeballs tell me that the trigger guard was standing proud of the trigger guard by 0.079 inches on both sides of the trigger guard. That's dangerous in a carry pistol, the fact that the trigger might be touched by a finger or a holster and is not adequately protected by the trigger guard.

The trigger shoe has now been removed and consigned to the little box of gun-related oddities.

Note** I am aware of the controversy surrounding the Blackhawk Serpa holster. I am aware that it has been banned in several competition venues and I am also aware that it has millions of dedicated users worldwide. This post is not about the Serpa holster, simply about the difficulty I had with the trigger shoe, which is now simply a curiosity.

2nd Note** Rivrdog asks in comments: PawPaw, does GEN. Patton's remark about pearl also apply to chome-plating on guns? Heck, dog, I don't know. I do know that folks still chrome firearms, and the fact that this one was chromed made it less valuable to the gun dealer. I got it for considerably less than one might expect to find a correct, 1915 era Colt 1911. It's no longer a historical piece, it's a using gun. Its provenance may have moved it through the French Quarter. It may have been chromed by someone who didn't like guns rusting in the very humid Deep South. I think it's cool, and as soon as this foot heals enough for me to put a shoe on, I'll have this thing at the range to see how it shoots.

Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Several months ago I was in the gun shop and saw a 1911 that looked fairly distinctive. Distinctive in that it was chromed like a Chevy bumper. I put it on layaway.

I decided today to get it off layaway, and found some interesting markings on it.

It's marked US Property, and the serial number (125XXX) puts it made in 1915, according to this site. When I got it home, I took it down and it looks very okay. The rifling is sharp and clear, the interior of the pistol looks very good, and while I don't know when the springs were last changed, the function check came out okay.

Somebody put a trigger shoe on it, and it's got those horrible Hogue wraparound grips on it. But, the more I handle it, the more I realize how sticky those grips are, plus, they fit my hand. It'll be interesting to see how it shoots.

It's an interesting pistol and I wish that it could tell me it's history. The slide is marked Property of US Army. I imagine that it was sold as surplus, probably sometime after WWII or Korea, and it was chromed shortly thereafter. It's an interesting piece and I hope that it shoots. I've never had a 1911 with a hard chrome job, and it might make a pretty barbecue gun.

It's Tuesday morning, and the foot continues to improve a little bit every day. Lately, I'm not so much in pain as I am uncomfortable, and I still can't get a shoe on my left foot. That's a problem, as I am a beat cop and I spend a lot of time on my feet, so I'll be off work for another week or so. The foot is healing, though, and I'm down to one crutch. I can put weight on that foot but the crutch gives me stability. The Doc looked at it yesterday, pronounced my progress to be satisfactory, and said he'd see me in another week. The office visit took longer to crutch from the parking lot to the waiting room than I was in the examination room. I was in and out in under five minutes.

I am getting cabin fever and I'm spending a lot of time on the back porch. Unlike the Frozen North, the weather in the Deep South is very pleasant. Very, very pleasant.

Monday, January 21, 2013

Over at Townhall.com, Katie Pavlich details the unbelievable hypocrisy that Eric Holder shows on gun control. Not willing to let a crisis go to waste, he's focused on assault weapons, just not the assault weapons that he released to Mexican drug cartels. The body count in that operation is over 400 persons, including at least one federal agent.

Under Holder, DOJ gun prosecutions are down by 40% from the Bush administration. Under Holder, the DOJ actively ran guns to drug cartels. Under Holder, the DOJ is shielding document requested by Congress as the try to get to the bottom of Fast and Furious.

PawPaw has been covering Fast and Furious since June, 2011 and the despicable, horrible, unspeakable tragedy in Connecticut has given this administration the outrage they need to bring gun control to the forefront. It's a shame that 400 Mexican nationals and at least one Federal agent had to lose their lives under an ill-advised program in Holder's DOJ. It's even more despicable that Holder is stonewalling Congress' investigation into the scandal.

Talking with grandkids after church, I made made a cultural reference to the hippy-dippy days of the late '60s when I mentioned Keep on Trucking, the iconic image by Robert Crumb. The grandkids, of course, had no idea what I was talking about. Originally appearing in Zap! comics, the image resonated with the culture of the day and was immediately pirated. Crumb moved to protect the copyright on his work and the case eventually made its way to the Ninth US Circuit, where Crumb was able to repair his rights to the image. Crumb never really wanted to become the iconic image of the hippys, but the damage was done.

It is a very cool image, and when I started Googling today to let the grandkids know what I was talking about, I was surprised to find that Crumb's image is still printed on T-shirts today.

I may have to order a T-shirt. I still think that the image is cool, and it certainly ties me back to my high-school/college days.

Saturday, January 19, 2013

“If someone is so fearful that they are going to start using their weapons to protect their rights, it makes me very nervous that these people have any weapons at all!” — Democrat Congressman Henry A. Waxman (California).

Uuuh, that's the whole point, Henry. You should be nervous, very nervous. That's the whole point of the Second Amendment. A Congressman being nervous isn't a problem; it's a feature.

Hot Air is carrying a story that in the rush to "do something" about gun violence, New York did not exempt the police from its magazine ban of seven (7) rounds. Cool.

I'd bet that all the New York cops who went to work last night, and are working today, are probably in violation of the new state law that limits magazine capacity to seven rounds. That's excellent.

Mental health experts say a new tougher New York state gun control law might interfere with treatment of potentially dangerous people and even discourage them from seeking help.
The law would require therapists, doctors, nurses and social workers to tell government authorities if they believe a patient is likely to harm himself or others. That could lead to revoking the patient’s gun permit and seizing any guns…
“The people who arguably most need to be in treatment and most need to feel free to talk about these disturbing impulses, may be the ones we make least likely to do so,” said the director of law, ethics and psychiatry at Columbia. “They will either simply not come, or not report the thoughts that they have.”
“If people with suicidal or homicidal impulses avoid treatment for fear of being reported in this way, they may be more likely to act on those impulses,” he said.

Oh, that's great! The mental health professionals say that the law sucks, and the police are in violation of the magazine ban.

I, as always, believe that the police should follow the same laws as the general public in their respective jurisdictions. There shouldn't be any exemptions for police as far as firearms are concerned. I've been a cop for a lot of years and most of my early career was conducted with a six-shot revolver. Two speed loaders on my belt, for a total of eighteen rounds. The only time I felt undergunned was when I needed a shotgun.

But, the big lesson here is the rush to judgement, the need to "do something". Often what is done in haste is regretted at leisure. New laws should be enacted with due consideration, vigorous debate, and the full legislative process.

It's been a while since I cooked a brisket, and I normally use a "packer-cut" brisket, which weighs about 20 lbs with lots of fat. I've always cooked a brisket with the fat cap on top, so that as the meat cooks, the fat melts through the meat, tenderizing the beef as it cooks. No one likes a tough brisket, and no one likes a dry brisket.

When we bought brisket this week, we found some really nice little (8 lb) trimmed brisket and we thought we'd give them a try. However, I was worried about the brisket drying out and I went to my local butcher's shop and asked him. Sausage, of course. A good, pork sausage, almost an andoille. So, this morning after rubbing the brisket, I capped it with Guillory's good pork sausage.

That's about 16 pounds of trimmed brisket and three pounds of good country link sausage. With some good potatoes, beans, and bread, that should do just fine. The brisket is in the 300F oven for the next six hours, and when company gets here tonight it should be ready to slice and enjoy.

Friday, January 18, 2013

The sports news this week has really been weird. I'm not a sports fan, but I've got to ask myself if somehow the whole sports industry has lost track of basic sanity.

First, Lance Armstrong admits to doping. Really. After suing people who accused him of doping. Now, he thinks an apology will set him free? Really? What an asshole.

Then, poor Manti Te'o (who I never heard about until yesterday). Evidently, this poor kid was smitten by an online relationship and has been made a complete fool of. Everyone is wondering if he's a victim or an active participant. Really? C'mon. Three years in a relationship with this woman and he's never met her? Or has he? Inquiring mans want to know. I mean, really, are the gals at Notre Dame so ugly, so uninteresting, that you couldn't find a girl that you could actually touch? The mind reels.

Who the hell is Scott Knight, anyway? Evidently, he's the Chief of Police of a little town, Chaska, MN, and he got trotted out for the Congressional Hearings.

Over the years I've worked small towns and I've gotten a lot of good information from small town cops. However, listening to Chief Knight last night on CSpan, I've never heard worst testimony from a sitting police chief. A little Googling shows me that Chief Knight is the firearms chairman of the International Association of Chiefs of Police, and they've issued a press release supporting President Obama's over-reach.

He's wrong on almost ever level, and he's evidently a trained supporter that can be trotted out for supporting administration proposals. I'd love to sit down for an hour with him and talk to him about his proposals.

Oh, and while I'm at it, Chief Knight, I really loved your uniform. Evidently, the Chief of a small town needs four stars on his shoulder. That's the first indication that you have an ego problem. You've promoted yourself to Frigadier Greneral and you're trying to impose your short-sighted vision on the rest of the world, hoping that the stars on your jacket lend you credence. They don't. They only make you look pathetic.

You don't need a 30 round magazine. Actually, I prefer 20 round magazines. Early in the design stages of the AR rifle, the 20 round magazine was the standard magazine. The ammo pouches that the Army gave me were set up for the 20 round magazine, but over time the 30 round boxes have become standard.

What is a magazine? It's simply a stamped steel box with a spring and a plastic device to follow the ammo. That's it. A steel box with a spring. Some of them work well, some of them don't. As a matter of fact, when I'm diagnosing a problem with a semi-auto firearm, the first thing I look at is the magazine. Those that are found faulty are crushed in my bench vise and tossed in the trash. Life is too short to bother with defective magazines.

Last year, POST council here in Louisiana changed their qualification course from 40 rounds to 48 rounds. So, to qualify with the AR, I need a 20 round and a 30 round magazine. "But PawPaw", you'll say, "You're a cop and you should be able to get a 30 round magazine if you need one."

That's true, but I'm one of those guys who likes to pop into my local gun shop and pick up a magazine when I need one. If a magazine ban goes into effect, I won't be able to do that because those steel boxes won't be readily available. I'll have to jump through hoops to get one, specially stamped "Military or Law Enforcement", and I don't like jumping through hoops.

I'm also one of those cops who don't believe in exceptions for police. Police should follow the laws that everyone else follows. And, let me say this one more time: In 30 years of police work, I have never had a problem, not the first single problem, with a law-abiding citizen who had a gun. Law abiding citizens are not the problem.

But, it gets back to the You Don't Need argument. The government shouldn't be allowed to tell me what I need.

Let's talk about the stawmen in the current gun debate. The biggest one is: You don't need (fill in the blanks).

You don't need an AR15 for hunting. That's true. I've been a police officer for 30 years. During that time I served in both the National Guard and the Army Reserves. I carried an M16 during that time, the standard weapon of the infantryman. I'm very comfortable with that weapon and I understand both its strengths and weaknesses.

I also hunt deer, one of my favorite hobbies, and I don't bring my AR for deer hunting. I use a standard hunting rifle, a bolt action that holds three rounds. For many years I hunted with a muzzleloading rifle, a single shot musket just like the Founding Fathers used against the British interlopers, and it is a fine hunting instrument. However, this debate isn't about hunting. This debate is about the 2nd Amendment, which has nothing to do with hunting. The 2nd Amendment is about government intrusion and the Founders believed that the citizens should be armed as well as the government. In times of extreme need, when government breaks down and is unable to protect The People, the people have a right to defend themselves.

Do you want to live in a police state? I don't either, but when the police are better armed than the general public, you have the basis of a police state. I don't want to live in a place where the police have special exemptions, where the law writes particular exemptions for the police or the government. The law should apply to all equally, and if we don't need ARs on the streets, then the police shouldn't be allowed to have them, either. The police are simply citizens with power of arrest, paid to do full-time what every citizen should do on an as-needed basis.

Let me say this, for the record. In thirty years of police work, I have never had one problem with a law-abiding citizen who happened to be armed. Not one problem. Law abiding citizens are not the problem.

My guns are not the problem.

But, when you tell me "You Don't Need...", I wonder why you have the gall to presume to know what I need. I'm a free American and what I need is none of your business. How dare you presume to dictate my needs?

After I rose this morning, and hobbled to the living room, I turned on the TV and learned that we're under a winter storm. Potential icing, bridges being salted, some road closures. Schools, of course, are closed. Louisiana doesn't handle ice very well, except in our tall, frosty drinks.

We're all waiting with bated breath to learn what our President will recommend this morning. The usual suspects rear their heads. Assault weapons ban, universal background checks, magazine restrictions. None of these things would have made a bit of difference to the Sandy Hook shooter, but the President is pandering to his base and this is the least we can expect. Our President is entirely too predictable, and according to many, a stone hypocrite.

How is Obama a hypocrite? Easily. He and his children are protected by armed men and women, people who carry guns, the very guns that our President seeks to ban. His children attend what is arguably the most secure school in the world. He himself is routinely protected by persons who carry large capacity magazines. His guards carry weapons in places where the average citizen would be arrested and convicted for carrying those same weapons. His protection far exceeds the ability of a standard American to protect themselves. It is the height of hypocrisy and shows how closely the US Presidency has evolved toward an imperial office.

In light of this obvious hypocrisy, I am calling on the President of the United States to limit his protective detail to those firearms, magazine, and ammunition that is available to the citizens of the United States, and that any of those laws or regulations that he proposes be immediately be adopted by his protective detail. He can certainly accomplish this through Executive Order, and will show a solidarity with The People he is sworn to serve.

Monday, January 14, 2013

The Doc says that my foot looks a little better (as in, it couldn't look worse than it did last week), and I'll be off work for another little while. He wants to see me again on Thursday. Keep doing what we're doing, stay off the foot, etc, etc.

I had a nice conversation about concealed carry with one of the ladies that works in the clinic. She's considering getting her permit and we talked about options and considerations. It's amazing to me sometimes, where I have these conversations. Nice little middle-aged women stop me and ask questions about firearms. It's awesome.

I understand that Joe (the dimwitted Sheriff) Biden is going to talk with the Lightworker about guns and how to undo the Sandy Hook Tragedy. He can't undo it. It was the work of a deranged killer. Plain and simple, but they can't let a tragedy go to waste, so they'll do something that won't solve the problem, won't address a solution, and all of us will be less free because of their solutions.

Sunday, January 13, 2013

We've been hammering on David Gregory, who violated the DC laws against magazine possession in a very public and spectacular way. He got a pass, which surprises no one, least of all us cynics who believe that government is out of control and exists to serve only the governing elite. So, now we turn our attention to the prosecutor who gave Gregory that pass, and learn that he is friends with Gregory's wife.

That's Gregory's wife on the left, and the AG that declined to prosecute on the right. It would seem, as a minimum, he would have recused himself from the prosecution. Instead, he sent a letter to the NBC lawyers explaining his decision to drop the charges. An excerpt from that letter:

OAG has determined to exercise its prosecutorial discretion to decline to bring criminal charges against Mr. Gregory, who has no criminal record, or any other NBC employee based on the events associated with the December 23,2012 broadcast. OAG has made this determination, despite the clarity of the violation of this important law, because under all of the circumstances here a prosecution would not promote public safety in the District of Columbia nor serve the best interests of the people of the District to whom this office owes its trust.

Respectfully, Mr. AG, I object. I would argue that prosecuting Mr. Gregory would serve public safety interests and the best interests of the people of the District. A prosecution would show The People that the law exists to serve everyone, that everyone is equal before the law, and that rich and poor, famous and anonymous, celebrity and obscure are all equal before the law. If Mr. Gregory displayed that magazine to... how did you say it?

our recognition that the intent of the temporary possession and short display of the magazine was to promote the First Amendment purpose of informing an ongoing public debate about firearms policy in the United States

If his intent was to promote the First Amendment, then can I expect a pass if I display a magazine to promote the Second Amendment?

No, Mr. Nathan, you have only demonstrated that the law exists for the benefit of the privileged class and that it falls hardest on those who are anonymous and obscure; simple private citizens without political power.

Milady seems to like her Kindle. I bought it for her on Christmas and after the initial adjustment period, she seems to be fond of the little device. Like millions of other folks, she's downloaded Angry Bird, and plays it when she has a few minutes.

The dog likes to get in her lap when she's playing the game.

I jest with her, and tell her that someone needs to design a program called Silly Dawg; a game that features a goofy Shi-Tzu hanging around a house. Maybe chasing biscuits.

Saturday, January 12, 2013

As predicted, the prosecutors in Washington DC have decided to not prosecute David Gregory after his public violation of the district's magazine laws. The Washington Times reports:

NBC should be made aware that OAG's decision not to press charges in this matter was a very close decision and not one to which it came lightly or easily. Accordingly, NBC and its employees should take meticulous care in the future to ensure that it is in full compliance with D.C. law whether its actions involve firearms or any other potential violation. Repetition by NBC or any employee of any similar or other firearms violation will be prosecuted to the full extent supported by the facts and the law.
I am confident that you will convey our deep concern and warning to your client.

So, Gregory gets off with deep concern and a sternly worded memo. It would appear that the Gregory Defense is now in full force and effect in Washington DC.

PawPaw injured himself on Tuesday, last. Working on the sewer, I got a bad chemical burn on the top of my left foot. It didn't look so bad on Wednesday, so I went to work. By the end of the day I was in pain, so Milady got me to the doctor on Thursday. Yes, I'm doing what the doctor tells me to do, and Milady is my personal RN, so she's watching after me as well.

Crutches are a pain in the butt. I haven't been on crutches since college, and my upper body strength is considerably less than it was during my Army days. Moving from the porch to my chair is like running a marathon, and as I type this, I'm winded. Going to the bathroom is a mental challenge, just trying to figger out how to position myself so that I don't lose what little dignity I have left.

All this to say that if I don't blog much over the next week or so, you'll know why.

Thursday, January 10, 2013

It looks like the Washington DC police department has completed their investigation and has passed the case to the AG's office to decide if Gregory will be charged with the same crime that everyone else gets charged with.

Does the rule of law apply equally to all citizens, even when “the law is a ass,” to quote Charles Dickens? Or do celebrities get one form of justice for mindless laws they endorse while breaking them, while everyone else gets the tougher form? That question now rests with the District of Columbia’s Attorney General, who will have to decide what to do with NBC’s David Gregory for brandishing a high-capacity magazine on television:

Good question! Actually several good questions. Does the rule of law apply equally to all citizens? Or, is "the law an ass"? Do celebrities get a pass, while everyone else has to obey the law?

It's going to be interesting to see how the AG's office decides those questions.

Tuesday, January 08, 2013

My sewerage problems continue to rock my world, and they're centered on the inlet to the treatment plant that was required when the house was built. When the sewer district was formed, the homeowner, rather than taking the treatment plant out of the mix, instead took the easy route and simply tied the outlet of the treatment plant into the sewer system. Now, I've got one hellacious clog in the inlet of the treatment plant that's giving me fits trying to figure out what's in there. I believe that there's a T in there that I can't get the plumbing snake to go around. It simply butts into the flat side of the T and I'm stuck.

Of course, this whole time I'm trying to fix my problem, I'm standing on my head in raw sewerage. Fun, fun, fun.

Talking to the sewer district is no help. I asked one simple question (Do I need the plant, or can I route around or through it) and they can't seem to give me an answer. If I don't get an answer tomorrow I'm going to answer the question myself whether they like it or not. None of my neighbors have treatment plants, so I'll assume that the code says I don't need one.

It's time to start using my Google-fu and get educated on sewerage treatment plants.

Monday, January 07, 2013

Has anyone noticed that their paycheck is smaller than it was last month? It seems that the Social Security holiday is over and the government is requiring that Social Security payment be withheld. I'm a retiree and my already paltry state retirement dropped by a little over $2.00. My state retirement check is almost minuscule but I realize that the money is less than it was last month.

Sunday, January 06, 2013

After our problems today with the waste-water treatment, Milady and I decided that we'd cocktail during the Happy Hour. The question became which drink is appropriate for the types of challenges we've had today? Milady decided that the Mudslide was most appropriate. I heartily seconded her motion, and opened the bar.

This week, I've been noticing a problem with my household sewerage system, and I've been researching solutions. Unfortunately, you never really know what problems you have lurking underneath your lawn until you start digging, literally.

When we bought this house, we were told that we were on a rural sewer system, and indeed, I've been paying bills for sewerage treatment every month since I've been living here. I also knew that this house was built before the rest of the subdivision and had a treatment plant in the mix. When I bought the place, I assumed that when the rural sewer system came into being, that the previous owner had cut the treatment plant out of the system and had connected directly into the system. And, you know what they say about assuming. Yeah.

Turns out, the jazzbo who hooked the house to the rural system kept the treatment plant in the mix. He simply hooked the end of the discharge line to the system, so I've got a treatment plant that acts as a catch basin. When solids run into the tank, they settle out and let the water go through. And over the years, the tank has become completely clogged with solids, to the point where water seeps through, not really flowing, but simply seeping through.

Fortunately, eldest son is a certified water-treatment guy and knows all about these things. I had him out this morning after church and he diagnosed my problems and offered some solutions. The very first thing we need to accomplish is to get that tank pumped, and he hooked me up with a guy who'll go that tomorrow morning. After that's accomplished, that will give us time to work through the problem with the solutions. Very shortly, that treatment plant will only be an artifact, a bit of concrete with no useful purpose.

Let's simply say that my Sunday morning has been very interesting, and very educational.

My laptop is still toast and I'm going through the process of getting it to boot. Right now, I'm trying a system restore. Yesterday was very busy and the whole house overslept. Milady and I didn't get up until 8:30, and I doubt we'll make it to church. The dog is sleeping near Milady's chair, and his demeanor this morning perfectly matches mine.

Yeah, that's about the way I feel too. Another cup of coffee and we'll kick-start this day.

Saturday, January 05, 2013

As it turns out, D.C. does prosecute people for having standard-capacity magazines. This article details the arrest and trial of Mr. James Brinkley, who called and asked the DC police about how to legally transport a magazine, but was later stopped and arrested for having an unloaded magazine in his trunk.

Unlike Mr. Gregory, Mr. Brinkley followed the police orders by placing his Glock 22 in a box with a big padlock in the trunk of his Dodge Charger. The two ordinary, 15-round magazines were not in the gun, and he did not have any ammunition with him. As he was dropping off his family at 11 a.m. on the corner of Pennsylvania Avenue, Mr. Brinkley stopped to ask a Secret Service officer whether his wife could take the baby’s car seat into the White House. The officer saw Mr. Brinkley had an empty holster, which kicked off a traffic stop that ended in a search of the Charger’s trunk. Mr. Brinkley was booked on two counts of “high capacity” magazine possession (these are ordinary magazines nearly everywhere else in the country) and one count of possessing an unregistered gun.

Note that one parenthetical. These are ordinary magazines nearly everywhere else in the country. That's certainly true. But Mr. Brinkley was arrested, went to trial and was later found not guilty by a judge, who ruled that Brinkley was legally transporting the magazine.

Mr. Brinkley believes the “Meet the Press” anchor is receiving special treatment because of his high-profile job. “I’m an average person,” Mr. Brinkley said in an exclusive interview with The Washington Times. “There seems to be a law for us and a law for the upper echelon.”

Indeed, Mr. Brinkley, indeed. There are two sets of laws in this country. One for the common folk and one for the upper elite. Yet they have the gall to talk about "rule of law".

I got up this morning, poured coffee, and sat down to check email and start the day. Somethiing ain't right in my laptop. It crashed hard. Very hard. Started running diagnostics. Oh, my, this thing is sick, sick.

I'm using Milady's netbook to try to figure out what's wrong with the laptop, but I don't know if there's much hope. In the meantime, this tiny keyboard on the netbook is giving me fits.

Friday, January 04, 2013

This morning, the second grandson and I went to sight in his new rifle. A Savage Axis in .25-06, he found the rifle under the tree on Christmas. Today has been the first day that our schedules and weather have coincided enough that we could take the time to make sure that the rifle is shooting where it looks.

Here, he's hunkered down over the bench, getting used to the new rifle. It took a dozen shots or so, and we had to change the target center once, but he managed to get it shooting where it looks.

I'd say that's pretty much on target, and he's learning how to use the rifle. As soon as we finished with the paper targets, he commenced to ringing the gongs downrange. And, for a $300.00 rifle, I'm impressed with how these little rifles shoot. If PawPaw hadn't cheaped on the scope, it might be a very good shooter indeed. For now, the rifle has an old Bushnell on it, but we'll have to look around and see if we can't find something a little better. But, for now, he's got a rifle that he can shoot. I am very pleased.

What happened that my SS withholdings in my paycheck just went up. My paycheck just went down by an amount that I don't feel comfortable with. I guarantee this decrease will hurt me more than the increase in income taxes will hurt those making over $400,000.

Thursday, January 03, 2013

Did you know, that according to the FBI, more people are killed each year by hammers and clubs than by rifles? I didn't know that either, and shame on me.

For example. in 2011 there was 323 murders committed with a rifle but 496 murders committed with hammers and clubs

. It seems that the numbers on fists and beatings are even more horrific.

Another interesting fact: According to the FBI, nearly twice as many people are killed by hands and fists each year than are killed by murderers who use rifles.

So, it appears that the gun banners haven't really done their homework.

However, it appears the zeal of Sens. like Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and Joe Manchin (D-WV) is misdirected. For in looking at the FBI numbers from 2005 to 2011, the number of murders by hammers and clubs consistently exceeds the number of murders committed with a rifle.

It's not about safety, or guns, it's about control. Who'd a thunk that we're in greater danger from caveman weapons than we are from modern sporting rifles?

There is nothing that prevents David Gregory from showing some respect to those institutions right now by saying something like, "I am sorry that my actions have caused a police investigation. My team and I will cooperate fully with D.C. police and do whatever we can to help resolve this matter."

Yeah, well, like other criminals Gregory has the right to remain silent. I'm sure that he's been advised by his lawyers to shut up. HuffPo talks about rule of law, too.

None the less, Washington, D.C. police are now stuck. If they let David Gregory off without getting any acknowledgment from him that he made a mistake, police will be throwing "equal justice under the law" out the window. After all, would an African-American in Southeast D.C. who violated a gun law -- and wouldn't acknowledge it -- get a break? Of course not.

Yeah, the law is funny like that. It's supposed to be color-blind, economically blind, "equal justice for all".
The sooner that Gregory is arrested and prosecuted for what is was a very public and spectacular violation of D.C. ordinances, the sooner we can move on.

The D.C. police should be seeking a warrant even as I post on this issue. I can't think of any competent detective who wouldn't have already moved on this issue, except if he's being stonewalled by his supervisors.

President Barack Obama has committed to pushing new legislation, possibly including a ban on some semi-automatic weapons, this year.

Then this:

The FBI said it recorded 2.78 million background checks during the month, surpassing the mark set in November of 2.01 million checks - about a 39 percent rise. The latest monthly figure was up 49 percent over December 2011, when the FBI performed a then-record 1.86 million checks.

The linkage is clear. Barack Obama is the greatest gun salesman in history. Every time he opens his mouth, gun sales spike. He must own stock in a gun company, because he certainly seems to enjoy spiking sales. The math is easy. When Obama talks about banning guns, another 920,000 firearms go out the door. That figure may be low, because it only records NICS checks. A person can buy more than one gun on an NICS check.

If Barack Obama was really serious about keeping firearms off the street, he'd keep his damned mouth shut.

Wednesday, January 02, 2013

It’s been more than a week since police in Washington, D.C., opened an investigation into NBC’s David Gregory’s possession of a “high-capacity magazine” that’s prohibited in the District on on national TV. Metropolitan Police’s spokesman refused Monday to respond to whether Mr. Gregory had even been interviewed yet. This is a rather curious departure for a city that has been ruthless in enforcing this particular firearms statute against law-abiding citizens who made an honest mistake.

In July, The Washington Times highlighted the plight of former Army Spc. Adam Meckler, who was arrested and jailed for having a few long-forgotten rounds of ordinary ammunition — but no gun — in his backpack in Washington. Mr. Meckler, a veteran of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, says he had no idea it was illegal to possess unregistered ammunition in the city. He violated the same section of D.C. law as Mr. Gregoryallegedly did, and both offenses carry the same maximum penalty of a $1,000 fine and a year in jail.

Two guys both broke the same law. Specialist Adam Meckler went to jail, David Gregory remains free. Spec Meckler didn't realize that he was breaking a law, Mr. Gregory broke the law in public and spectacular fashion after having asked if he could break the law. Gregory was told no.

Gregory has political juice. Meckler doesn't. That's the difference. Common folks go to jail. Folks like Mr. Gregory don't. There will be those who argue that it's always been that way, that the rich and famous get away with things that the common person can't. That argument doesn't mean that we have to accept it. It's wrong and Mr. Gregory should face the same prosecutorial system that Mr. Meckler faced.

We were talking about Remington Model 700 rifles at this forum, and I happened to remember that Remington used to stamp their rifles with date stamps. Wisner's Inc has thoughtfully put together a page that let's us use those cryptic stamps in an attempt to understand when our Remington rifles were manufactured. This information is trivial at best, but some folks like to follow trivia. If you read the Wisner's page, you'll notice that Remington quit stamping rifles in 1999, which will also give you information on the date your rifle was made, eg, no date stamp, it was made after 1999.

The date stamp is found on the top left of the barrel near the receiver ring. It looks something like this.

See that WD? That's the date stamp. The first letter (W) is the month, the second letter (D) is the year. If we go to the Wisner's page, we learn that the rifle was manufactured in August (W), and either in 1935, 1957, or 1983. According to Wikipedia, Remington didn't begin making the Model 700 until 1962, so this must be a 1983 version.

With that knowledge, I can surmise that my particular rifle was probably manufactured in August 1983. That knowledge isn't particularly useful, but it is something that gun enthusiasts like to talk about.

About Me

I'm a grandpaw who has lived a life of adventure, and resent having to slow down. I've been a Tank Commander, a Company Commander, an MP. My main career has been law enforcement, with 30 years and counting. At this stage of my life, the most important people in my life call me PawPaw. You've come to PawPaw's House. Sit back and enjoy.
Email me at ddezendorf at yahoo dot com (all spambots must die)